Willow Trees
by InvisiblePrincess2002
Summary: AU. A lot of big changes are in store for Mrs. Garrett now that she's recently gotten married to Howard and left her job at Eastland to open up her own gourmet food shop. But several weeks after returning from their honeymoon, the newlyweds get an incredible surprise they never could have seen coming, and they're in for the most shocking change to their lives yet. Can they cope?
1. A Honeymoon in Appleton

**Author's Note:** This story is based on the NBC television series _The Facts of Life_ , which as far as I know, is the property of Embassy Television, Columbia Pictures Television, and Sony Pictures Television. **No infringement is intended.**

 **Chapter 1: A Honeymoon in Appleton**

It had been an utterly perfect August day. Edna Caden – formerly Edna Garrett – was back on her family farm in Appleton, Wisconsin, enjoying the last day of her honeymoon with her new husband, Howard. Edna had lived in Peekskill, New York for a few years now, working as the school dietician at the Eastland School for Girls, and she had always been happy there, but as the old saying went, there was no place like home. Now that she was back at her family's farm again, she was truly in her element. She had long since learned how to thrive in the city, but she was always a farmer's daughter at heart.

Howard, who'd really been quite a drifter for most of his life, working as a cook in a myriad of different places all over the country for many years, had always preferred city life, himself. However, when he worked under Edna as a cook at Eastland a couple of years back, he'd fallen head over heels in love with her. Even though he quit his job at the girls' school after ten months and left Peekskill for another job in Manhattan, the then fifty-three-year-old bachelor simply couldn't get Edna Garrett out of his mind – or his heart. So at the beginning of the last school year, he returned to his previous position there, and they resumed their relationship. The rest, as they say, is history. On a lovely warm evening in May, he popped the question and Edna gave him a very enthusiastic yes. Two people who _weren't_ enthusiastic about them getting married at the time, however, were fifteen-year-old Natalie Green and her best friend, fourteen-year-old Tootie Ramsey. Neither one of them were exactly thrilled with the prospect of Mrs. Garrett getting married and going to live somewhere else.

Although Edna's official position at Eastland had been that of school dietician, she had had other responsibilities that _weren't_ in her job description that she never get paid for in her time there. At the beginning of Howard's first year at Eastland, Blair Warner, Jo Polniaczek, Natalie Green, and Tootie Ramsey stole the school van and hotwired it, and they attempted to get into a nearby bar with fake IDs. When they were arrested by an undercover cop at the bar, Eastland's headmaster at the time, Mr. Harris, was so furious he immediately expelled them. Mercifully for them, Edna was kindhearted enough to come to their rescue, convincing Mr. Harris to allow them to stay as long as she agreed to accept full responsibility for them and have them work with her and Howard in the kitchen and cafeteria to pay off the damage they did to the school van. The girls also had to move out of their dorm rooms and into the old storage room across the hall from Edna's bedroom so she could keep her eye on them. Ever since then, for three wonderful years, the five of them lived and worked together, and they really did become a family. It had always been an unspoken truth that Mrs. Garrett was the only _real_ parent they had in their lives. It was quite obvious that she couldn't have loved those four girls more if they were her own flesh-and-blood daughters. Caring for four teenage girls in addition to feeding an entire student body was hardly _easy_ , but even though her previous life had Eastland had not been without its share of challenges, she had never been happier.

But that still didn't change the fact that the divorcée of twenty years felt lonely from time to time and needed companionship in her life. Edna had always hoped that she'd get married again someday, and when Howard came back into her life, everything just fell right into place for both of them. Howard was more than smitten with Edna's warm, sweet, giving, tenderhearted personality, and Edna truly adored Howard for his enormous heart and lively spirit and endlessly goofy nature. He truly was a clown and an overgrown child, but in a _good_ way. He wasn't immature or irresponsible, but he _was_ a constant goofball, and that was one of Edna's most favorite things about him. While she certainly didn't like the idea of leaving the girls behind to move in with Howard, she was absolutely in love with him, and she knew that as much as she loved her girls, there did come a point where she had to do what was right for herself as well. On top of that, her two oldest girls, Blair and Jo, were both eighteen and getting ready to start attending Langley College in the fall semester, so the splitting up of their family was inevitable. It was always going to happen regardless of whether or not she married Howard and moved out of her room above the Eastland cafeteria. And it was hardly as if she was running off to some faraway place like Africa with an annoying, selfish old fuddy-duddy who didn't care about her relationships with her girls. When Edna agreed to marry Howard, she knew she'd simply be moving into his apartment with him in town and coming to work at Eastland every day, so even though she wouldn't be living with Natalie and Tootie anymore, she'd still see them all the time. Therefore, in spite of the fact that Natalie and Tootie were _far_ from pleased about the idea of Mrs. Garrett moving out, they were ultimately left with no choice but to make their peace with it. And although they were upset about Mrs. Garrett not living with them anymore, they were in fact very happy for her and Howard, as were Blair and Jo, when they officially tied the knot just after Blair's and Jo's graduation in mid-June.

However, life had another surprise in store for Edna after the surprise of a new husband. Right before the newlywed couple left for Appleton for their honeymoon-slash-summer-vacation, Edna's older son Raymond surprised her with a very special wedding present: her own gourmet food shop. He'd managed to buy an old building in downtown Peekskill where an Armenian deli used to be, and he offered to set her up with her very own business. Edna was a bit hesitant at first, but it was something she'd always dreamed of. Howard was more than supportive, and the girls were as well, so she decided in the end to go ahead with the idea. And after discussing it with Howard, Edna offered to allow all the girls to move in and stay in the large master bedroom of the adjoining house so that their family could remain together, which was something they happily agreed to. The girls would also be working part-time in Edna's new shop after classes to help her and Howard out with their new business.

For the following week after their wedding, Edna, Howard, and the girls stayed in Peekskill and cleaned up the old shop and whipped it into shape before everybody left for the summer. And ever since the newlyweds left Peekskill for Appleton, they'd been having the time of their lives on Edna's family farm. The farm now belonged to Edna's oldest brother and his wife and kids; however, they too had left home for the summer, and they'd allowed Edna and Howard to have the place to themselves for a kind of honeymoon. Despite the fact Howard was, in his own words, a born and bred city boy, he soon got into the spirit of it, and he actually had a lot of fun helping Edna tend to the farm for her brother…that is, when they _weren't_ busy doing…other things.

And today, the twentieth of August, was officially their last day in Wisconsin, and while Edna and Howard would be leaving early the next morning, her brother and his family were returning to the farm later that following day as well. And even though Howard and especially Edna were sorry to see their extended honeymoon come to an end, they were ready to resume their life in Peekskill with the girls and start their business. Once they were finished with all the chores that needed to be done on the farm, they spent the rest of the day enjoying the simple things in life. They took a nice, long walk together for a while and then they went fishing until the sun went down, and as they fished, they laughed, talked, and had the time of their lives just by being in each other's company. The sunset over the lake in the park was breathtaking, and for Edna, the remarkable scenery before her eyes was only enhanced that much more the moment Howard put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his embrace. It was pure, absolute heaven. Nothing but nature, peace and quiet, and most importantly, each other. No headaches. No demanding, unreasonable headmasters to deal with. No deadlines. No faculty dinners. No fights or squabbles to settle. No shouting matches. No teenage crises on the horizon. No drama. Neither one of them could have possibly imagined a more idyllic honeymoon.

And despite the fact that they lingered at Edna's favorite Italian restaurant for hours and didn't get back until very late at night, they weren't ready to go to sleep. Even though they knew perfectly well that they had a flight back to New York early the next morning, sleep was the last thing on their minds as they settled next to each other in the bed of her brother's guest room.

It didn't take long for Howard to put his arm around Edna's shoulders and snuggle close to her. As soon as he did that, he whispered in her ear, "May I have a word with the girl who won that famous bet jumping off the barn into a bale of hay?"

Edna laughed, and then she told him, "She's right here."

"Want to go on another adventure on the farm, and uh…roll in the hay again?"

Again, she laughed, and she responded, "We've already been on plenty of our 'adventures' together on the farm. You know we'll have to cool things down a little once we're back in Peekskill. If the girls hear us while we're on one of our 'adventures,' we may scar them for life."

Howard laughed with Edna, and then after kissing her cheek, he whispered in her ear, "Well, they'll just have to realize that just because we've got snow on the roof doesn't mean there's not a fire in the furnace."

"I think we've been keeping that furnace lit very well these past few weeks."

After nibbling her ear a minute or two, he whispered, "Let's fire it up again."

"Whatever you say, Lover-Man, but you just remember that as soon as we get back to Peekskill, we're going to have four girls in our house to think about."

"We'll keep it down. They won't ever hear a thing."

Edna then looked at him pointedly and asked, "All kidding around aside, Howard, are you sure you're ready for this? This is a very big change for you. All these years, you've been a bachelor living on your own. Now, you're a married man, and in a very short time, you'll be helping to take care of four teenage girls. As soon as we get back to Peekskill, your entire life as you've known it is going to be turned upside down. You're going to have some heavy responsibilities on your shoulders. I want you to be prepared."

"I _am_ prepared, Edna," he kindly reassured her. "Well, I mean…I don't think any man can be _totally_ prepared for a change like that, but I believe I am as prepared as I possibly can be. And anyway, love, you know me. You know that I love those girls with all my heart."

"I know."

"And I promise you that no matter what, I'll always give them my best. No matter what, I'll always give _you_ my best."

A warm smile really lit up Edna's face in that moment, and then she reached up and caressed his cheek. A second later, she said, "Now what was that you were asking about firing up our furnace again?"

Howard then gave his new wife a mischievous grin in return, and a couple of moments later, they…ahem…began another one of their "adventures."


	2. The Good Lord's Wedding Present

**A/N:** Before anyone reads Chapter 2, I just want to state for the record that **I am a female author.** I'm sure you all gathered that from my username, but I just wanted to make a point of saying that the arguments that are made in this chapter are **not** being made by a man. While I am absolutely for equal rights for women in society and in the workplace, I firmly believe, **as a woman** , that there are some major problems in modern-day feminism. I'm sure that what I have to say in this chapter won't be very popular, but I strongly believe it needs to be said whether people like it or not, and the last time I checked, we still had freedom of speech. So there you go.

 **Chapter 2: The Good Lord's Wedding Present**

Edna and Howard returned to Peekskill the next day, and they enjoyed another two weeks in their new home alone together before the girls returned for the fall semester. During that time, as would be expected, they aired out the house since it had been closed up for the summer, and they started getting the shop, called Edna's Edibles, ready for its first official day of business. When the girls returned, everybody was happy to see each other, and they spent a good deal of time catching up on what happened during their summer vacation. While Edna and Howard certainly didn't go into details about _everything_ they did together over the summer, they did tell the girls about how they enjoyed the quiet, beautiful simplicity of the country and the farm in Appleton, and the girls filled them in on all the things they'd done during their vacation as well.

Over the next four weeks, Edna, Howard, and the girls all settled into their new lives at Edna's Edibles quite nicely. Blair and Jo started off their college careers with an academic and a social bang, each doing excellently in their studies and becoming more involved than ever in extracurricular activities on the Langley campus when they weren't busy helping out in the shop. Natalie began her junior year at Eastland, and Tootie her sophomore year, and they also got off to a good start. School reporter Natalie was as active as ever in her spot on the school debating team and in her work on the school paper, and Tootie, ever the talented actress, quickly landed the starring role in the next school play coming up in late November. Although moving from the Eastland cafeteria to Edna's Edibles and adding Howard to the family was a pretty significant change for the girls, it didn't take them too much time to get used to it. And in fact, as Howard had told Edna, he really did love the girls and think of them as the daughters he never had, and they loved him just as much.

However, as happy as the newlyweds were in their new life together with the girls, those first few weeks back in Peekskill weren't all fun and games. For some strange reason, Edna started getting more and more and more emotional over every little thing. She also started getting dizzy spells, and she was constantly nauseous and fatigued. At first, Howard and the girls thought that Edna had simply come down with some kind of virus or the flu, but as the next several weeks passed and her symptoms persisted, everyone started getting concerned.

One Sunday night in late October, after Edna had sent the girls up to bed, she and Howard were sitting together talking on the living room couch. Howard could clearly see it that his new bride was having another bout of nausea as she grimaced and held her stomach, and he didn't hesitate to let her know that he was concerned.

"Edna, I think you've put this off long enough. I think it is high time you went to see your doctor about this."

After the nausea passed, Edna conceded, "You're right, Howard. I honestly don't know what has been going on with me these past few weeks. I haven't been myself at all. I'm always tired and queasy. I'm so emotional. Would you believe it? This afternoon after we got back from church and ate lunch, I sat down and turned on the TV and went through the channels, trying to find something to watch. I ended up watching a cartoon, and it actually brought me to tears. _A cartoon!_ It's crazy."

"Well, some of those cartoons can really touch a person's heart. I still cry when I watch that episode of _The Flintstones_ when Wilma gives birth to Pebbles," Howard teased, and Edna laughed. Howard then pretended to tear up and stated wiping fake tears from his eyes as he joked, "Pebbles was such a pretty baby."

Edna laughed again and shook her head, and she told her husband, "You are such a clown." In that moment, Howard chuckled at himself, and then Edna reached up and caressed his cheek, and she looked into his eyes and said, "That's one of the things I love most about you."

Howard smiled then, and he reached up and took her hand and kissed it.

In that next second, it hit her, and she cried out, "I know what it is! Howard, I just realized what's going on. I know what's the matter with me."

"What?"

"I'm finally going through menopause."

"You think that's what's causing all this?"

"I'm sure of it. I almost never get a period anymore. It's been around six or seven months since my last one. It would certainly explain a lot of my symptoms…the lightheadedness, the fatigue, the mood swings. I can't believe I didn't see this before."

"Well I still think you ought to go see your doctor just to be on the safe side."

Edna nodded and said, "You're right, sweetheart. I will. I'll call the doctor's office first thing in the morning and make an appointment."

"Good girl," said Howard, and then he gave Edna a big kiss. "Now let's go to bed and get some sleep, huh?"

"You don't want to go on another one of our 'adventures' tonight?" Edna asked with a raised eyebrow, and again, Howard laughed.

"Maybe later, hon. Let's wait 'til you're feeling a little better first."

"I don't think I'll argue with that," Edna said with a yawn, and then she and her husband got up and went upstairs to bed.

The next morning, Edna called her doctor, Dr. Hughes, and made an appointment to see him at four that afternoon. After leaving the shop in the girls' care, Edna and Howard left at three-thirty to go to the doctor's office together.

After doing some bloodwork, Dr. Hughes called them out of the waiting room once again and back to his office. They sat in a couple of leather chairs across the mahogany desk from Dr. Hughes, a bald, heavyset black man with glasses, and they waited for him to confirm the diagnosis they were already certain of. The newlyweds were in for the shock of their lives.

"Well, Edna, Howard, I've just gotten the results from the lab, and we have a diagnosis. I can say with absolute certainty that this is _not_ menopause."

Edna and Howard looked at each other then, and it was clear they were both concerned.

"Dr. Hughes, if it's not menopause, then…what is it?" asked Edna.

He gave them a reassuring smile then and told them, "You can relax, kids. It's not fatal. You may want to brace yourselves, though. You're in for quite a surprise."

"We're braced, doc, so please quit beating around the bush and just tell us," said a rather anxious Howard.

"You youngsters are going to have an addition to the family. I guess this is the good Lord's wedding present to you. You're having a baby."

In that moment, Edna's lower jaw practically hit the floor, and Howard had to fight for air as he nearly passed out!

"Doctor, you can't be serious," Edna gasped.

"I'm very serious. The bloodwork proves it. I personally double-checked the test results. They're accurate."

"But that's impossible," Edna insisted. "I'm…I'm…well, let's just say I'm not in my thirties or forties anymore and leave it at that." That made Dr. Hughes chuckle. "This _has_ to be menopause," she protested a couple of seconds later. "Look at my age. And I haven't had a period in so many months."

"Pregnancies of women in your age group are exceptionally rare. That's stating the obvious. However, no matter how old a woman is, as long as she is still ovulating, conception is possible. It doesn't happen often, but on very rare occasions, it _does_ happen. You two are a pretty special couple. Congratulations."

"Uh, doc, hold off on those congratulations there for a second," said Howard as he held up his hand for a brief instant. "You know my wife suffers from hypertension. Given her age and her high blood pressure, do you really believe it's wise for us to go through with the pregnancy?"

"I understand your concerns, and you are right. I won't try to sugarcoat it. This is a very high-risk pregnancy. There's a much higher chance that your baby will have some kind of birth defect, and Edna, there are considerable risks to your overall health as well. There's an increased chance of complications like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, not to mention heart problems. Given your age and your history of hypertension, there are a lot of things to be concerned about in a pregnancy like this. But as a doctor, I cannot tell you whether or not you should terminate the pregnancy. That's between God and the two of you."

Their talk about terminating the pregnancy – ending her baby's _life_ – really stirred up anger inside Edna. She was certainly shocked by this news, but abortion was truly the last thing she would ever consider, regardless of the risks. In that moment, she told her husband and her doctor, "Now look, gentlemen, I know I'm no spring chicken, but that doesn't mean I'm in my autumn years, either. This gal is right smack dab in the middle of her summer years and she's still got a lot of pep left in her, and she can handle this. The bottom line is, _I am not_ ending this baby's life just because I'm a little older than most mothers."

"But Edna, there are so many risks to your health," Howard argued.

"You don't have to tell me that, Howard. I'm a registered nurse. I know all about the risks involved when an older woman gets pregnant. I know the road ahead of us isn't going to be an easy one, but like I just said, I can handle it. Have some faith in me."

"I believe this is something that the two of you need to continue to discuss in private," said Dr. Hughes. "In the meantime, before you leave, I'd like to perform an ultrasound and have a look at the fetus, get an idea of how old it is, etc."

Edna's face really lit up when he said that, and she told him, "Oh yes, by all means, let's do that. Oh Howard, this is going to be so exciting. They didn't do ultrasounds on pregnant women when I was pregnant with Raymond and Alex back in the day. It'll really be something to actually get to see our little one on screen."

"If you do decide to go through with the pregnancy, I would recommend that you get with your gynecologist and schedule an amniocentesis in several weeks to make sure the baby's healthy."

"Yes. If there are problems, God forbid, we should know so we can be better prepared to care for the baby," said Edna as a very shocked and worried Howard merely stared down at his feet.

"Indeed," Dr. Hughes concurred, and then he got up from his seat, and Edna and Howard stood as well. "Now, why don't we take a trip to the exam room across the hall and do that ultrasound?"

"Of course, Dr. Hughes," said Edna, and in the next moment, he started walking out of his office. "Come on, Howard," she told him. "Let's go."

Howard followed behind them in stunned silence, and when the doctor performed the ultrasound a few minutes later, seeing the image of his unborn baby onscreen did nothing to change his state of fear and shock. He just stood next to the exam table without uttering a word while his wife laid flat on her back and stared at the image of their child in awe.

And indeed, it was more than obvious that Edna's state of mind was a perfect one-eighty to Howard's. She'd been pretty shocked herself when Dr. Hughes had told them the news, but she recovered from it much quicker than her husband did. Even though she was still pretty stunned and did have her concerns, inside, she was already beginning to accept and even rejoice in the fact that she was going to be a mother again.

And for Edna, all it took was that one glance at the image of her unborn child on the ultrasound screen that day, and that was it. From that point on, there would not be even the tiniest fraction of a thought of ending the pregnancy in her mind. She knew there would be risks involved. She knew there was a considerably higher chance of birth defects for the baby and serious physical complications for herself, but to her, none of that mattered because the bottom line was, _this was her baby._ This was _their_ baby. This was their own unique, God-given miracle, and no matter what, she _was_ going to love it and cherish it and care for it.

"Oh my goodness," Edna gasped as tears came to her eyes the instant the baby's image came to life on the ultrasound screen.

After examining the baby via ultrasound for the next couple of minutes, Dr. Hughes confirmed, "Good news. So far, everything appears to be perfectly normal. I believe the fetus is around seven weeks old, and even though we won't know for certain until you have an amniocentesis, from what all I can tell, the baby appears healthy."

Edna had to brush away a tear from her eye then, and she gasped, "I can't believe it. At my age, _I'm_ having a baby. _Me._ "

"Edna, I think this is something you and I really need to have a long talk about," said Howard.

Edna chuckled and said, "Oh, we have to do a lot more besides talk. We've got a ton of plans to make. We'll have to set up a nursery. We'll have to start saving for college. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

Dr. Hughes laughed and said, "I think you still have a little bit of time. You're not even in the second trimester yet. You do have a few months, you know. You can take your time and just ease into it."

"Doctor, if there's any one thing I know, it's that time flies by at the speed of light. Right now, I'm in my first trimester, but it'll seem like it's tomorrow that this child is getting its driver's license and graduating from high school."

The doctor laughed again and said, "That's certainly true." He then took a towel and wiped off the gel from Edna's abdomen and told her, "Well, you're all done here. I'll have my secretary call your gynecologist and schedule an appointment for you. You're seeing Dr. Flowers, correct?"

After pulling down her blouse and sitting up on the exam table, Edna replied, "That's right. Dr. Jessica Flowers."

"She'll want to have a discussion with you both about your options."

"I think that's a very good idea," Howard said quietly. Then he and Edna exchanged the usual pleasantries with the doctor before they finally said goodbye and left.

For the next half hour or so as they rode together in the car, Edna couldn't stop talking about making plans for the baby. She happily prattled on and on about all the things they'd have to get, like baby clothes and a crib and a stroller and a car seat. She was lost in her own world and was utterly oblivious to the fact that her husband was clearly _not_ happy about the pregnancy.

When they got back to the house at five-thirty that evening, the girls had already closed the shop and they'd all gone out, so mercifully, the couple had the house to themselves and some much-needed privacy. Natalie and Tootie had a killer French test coming up, and they'd each met their boyfriends at the Eastland library for study dates. A friend of Jo's was having trouble with his motorcycle, so she'd gone over to his house to try and repair it. And as always, Blair was out on a date with one of her multitudes of boyfriends. They already knew in advance that the girls would be gone when they got back, and their absence was something Howard was particularly grateful for because he really wanted – and _needed_ – to talk to Edna now. And he needed to do it _without_ four teenage girls overhearing them.

As soon as they walked through the door, Howard said, "Edna, you and I have got to talk about this. We've got to _really_ talk about this."

"We have been talking about this, Howard."

Howard shook his head and said, "No, Edna. _You've_ been doing all the talking. You've been talking about preparing a nursery and buying baby furniture and saving for college. I want _both of us_ to talk, _really talk_ , about this pregnancy."

"What about it?"

"Like you said back at the doctor's office, you're a registered nurse. You know how risky a pregnancy like this is, especially with you having hypertension. Edna, I don't mean to be dramatic, but you know it's a medical fact that this pregnancy could kill you. I'm just going to tell you point-blank that I don't think you should go through with it. _I don't want_ you to go through with it."

Edna smiled, reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips, and told him, "I'm sorry, Howard. I've just gotten so wrapped up in thinking about the baby that I guess I really haven't been listening to you. I know how worried you are. I won't try to pretend that I'm not scared about the idea of having a baby at my age because I am. But I don't make my decisions based on fear. I make my decisions based on doing what's right."

"Isn't it _right_ to take care of your health? To make sure nothing happens to yourself so that you'll be around for all the people who love you and need you?"

" _I will_ be around, Howard. Just because this is a high-risk pregnancy doesn't mean it's some kind of death sentence."

" _It could be_ a death sentence, Edna. This really could kill you."

"Walking down the stairs could kill me if I trip and fall down and hit my head hard enough. Getting behind the wheel of a car could kill me if I'm unfortunate enough to cross paths with a drunk driver out on the road. There are all kinds of risks we take in life every single day, yet we don't just stay locked in our bedroom and hide under the covers and stop living altogether."

"That's not the same thing and you know it."

"All I know is, I am _not_ going to take our baby's life – I am not going to _murder_ this little life that I'm carrying – just because I'm afraid. This innocent little baby didn't do anything to deserve the death penalty _and I will not_ do something so heartless and vicious and cruel. I know how worried you are about the risks, but do give me _a little_ credit. I've always taken very good care of myself, and that's hardly going to change now. I'm going to listen to my doctors. I'm going to do everything I'm supposed to do. I assure you, Howard, that I am going to be extremely careful."

"I don't understand. What happened to all the lectures about women's lib and feminism and equal rights I had to listen to when I used to tease the girls that a woman's place was in the kitchen? Surely as a feminist, you would agree that you have the right to end this pregnancy in order to protect your health."

Edna shook her head, and then she told him, "Just because I believe in equal rights for women in society and in the workplace doesn't mean that I support abortion. Ordinarily, whenever there's a discussion about abortion, I button my lip because I don't feel like getting into all the drama and arguments and shouting matches that almost always happen, but the truth is, I believe that abortion is an atrocity for a number of reasons. I also believe, _as a woman_ , that when women in the women's movement attached abortion to feminism, they really shot themselves in the foot.

"Think about it, Howard. When a couple has a baby and the parents aren't living under the same roof and sharing living expenses, the father is automatically expected by law and by society to accept responsibility for his child and pay child support until the child is legally an adult. But when a woman _willfully chooses_ to have sex with a man and gets pregnant, according to a lot of feminists out there, _she_ _doesn't_ have to be an adult and accept _any_ responsibility whatsoever for the life _she_ helped to create through her own choice. She gets to get away with condemning an innocent life – _her own child_ – to death because the child doesn't fit in with what she wants for her own life. Do you not see what a double standard that is? And furthermore, it sends a _horrible_ message about women: that while women expect men to accept responsibility for choosing to have sex and choosing to create a baby, women think it's okay to resort to unbelievable levels of cruelty in order to shirk _their_ responsibilities in their own choices about sex. And on top of that, abortion also enables men out there who are selfish and irresponsible to avoid accepting responsibility for their choices in the bedroom as well. If a man doesn't want to at least accept the responsibility of paying child support, abortion is his automatic get-out-of-jail-free card. Abortion enables him to have sex without giving a second thought to the grave responsibilities that go along with that decision."

"I hear what you're saying, but what about cases of rape or incest? What about all the women out there who _didn't_ get a choice about having sex?"

"That's another conversation for another time. Right now, we're talking about us and our baby, and our situation has nothing to do with rape or incest. We're talking about whether or not a woman who _did_ have the choice to have sex should also have the right to take her unborn child's life, and I say _no._ You never forced yourself on me when we were on our honeymoon in Appleton, Howard. You asked me if I wanted to make love and _I_ said yes. That was _my_ decision. _I chose_ to make love to you. _I chose_ to help create this new life that I'm carrying. We both did. And now _we_ are responsible for the child that got created as a result of that choice. We don't get to run away from this."

"Yes, but we never dreamed this would happen."

"That doesn't matter. We _still_ chose to make love to each other, which _also_ means that we chose to create this baby. That means that _we_ , both you _and I_ , are responsible for this child. Equal rights doesn't just mean equal privileges. It _also_ means equal _responsibilities_.

"That was a lesson that was lost on my ex-husband. He certainly wanted all the privileges of being a husband and a father. He wanted the sex from me – and from other women. He wanted the hugs and love and adoration from the boys when they were little. But he always had a real problem with the responsibility part. He didn't want to have to deal with things like work, bills, colds, temper tantrums, discipline, fidelity. That all fell on my shoulders. And now you're asking me to do something infinitely worse than what my ex-husband did. You're not just asking me to shirk my responsibilities to _my child._ You're asking me to _end its life._ You're asking me to _commit murder._ You're asking me to allow someone to reach inside me with cold instruments and _literally_ rip our child's body apart limb from limb. That's what abortion is, Howard. Nobody likes to actually _talk about it_ , but as a registered nurse, I know that that is the cold, hard truth. That is what is done to an unborn baby in an abortion. A lot of people on the other side of the debate like to try to claim that an unborn baby is just fetal tissue and not a human being so that they can tell themselves the lie that murdering a baby by ripping it apart and yanking it outside of its mother is no big deal. But I can never do that. I can never lie to myself like that in order to run from the truth about the cruelty and inhumanity of abortion. And anyway, who on earth gave _me_ the right to play God and decide if someone else gets to live or die – my own child at that? That's Christ's domain, _not ours._ And _I am not_ my ex-husband. I accept my responsibilities, Howard. I don't run from them. That's not who I am, and you know it."

Howard let out a long sigh, and finally, he said, "I know." In the next moment, he pulled her in his arms and gave her a very long kiss. He then stroked her cheek and whispered, "That's one of the many reasons why I'm so in love with you. I guess I don't have any business trying to convince you to go against your own conscience. And you're right. I can't ask you to play God and decide to end our child's life. That's up to Jesus, not us. It's just that I'm scared. Heck, I'm not just scared. I'm petrified. I'm worried to death about what this pregnancy's going to do to your health and I may be even more worried about becoming a father for the first time at my age. You? You have experience. You've raised two sons. You know what you're doing. Me? I don't have a clue. And on top of that, I'm not sure an old-timer like me can keep up with a little one."

Edna chuckled and told him, "First of all, you're not an 'old-timer.' You're only as old as you act and feel. You're full of life and love and joy… _and mischief._ You're many things, Howard Andrew Caden, but old isn't one of them. And I've seen you with the girls. You'll be a wonderful father. And second, I know how worried you are about my health. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have concerns, myself. I do. But even though I have my own personal fears about this pregnancy, I won't give in to fear and I won't sacrifice our child's life to cater to my fear.

"My father taught me an important lesson when I was young, and it's stuck with me my whole life. One day when I was a girl, he taught me about willow trees. Willow trees can bend into all sorts of shapes without snapping, and my father taught me that in order to survive in this world, we have to be the same way. Life is always changing, Howard. Terrible, wonderful, beautiful, insane, unexpected things are constantly happening in life. In order to survive, we have to adapt to whatever life throws at us without allowing it to break us, just like willow trees do. Clearly, neither one of us saw this change coming, but you don't have to worry about me. I can do some major bending when I have to. I won't break. I promise you. I can do this. _We_ can do this."

Howard smiled and let out a sigh, and then with his arms still around her waist, he pulled her even closer to him and kissed the top of her head. A moment later, he said, "Edna, you are an extraordinary woman."

Edna looked up at him with a big smile, and then she said, "I won't argue with that."

They kissed once again, and then several long moments later, their embrace finally ended. When they let go of each other, Howard said, "Well, it looks like we have a lot of decisions to make, like where we're going to put a nursery for this kid; what college we're going to send it to; what we're going to name it."

"As far as the question of a nursery is concerned, we can turn part of our bedroom into a kind of small nursery for the baby. Besides, I want the baby to be with us anyway."

"That's a good idea."

"As for college, I think that should be up to our child when he's eighteen. It's his life, and I think he should go to any college he wants."

"What makes you so sure it's a he? It could be a girl, you know."

"That's true."

"And if this baby is a girl, I want to name her Pebbles," Howard teased. Edna had a good laugh at that, and she rolled her eyes at his silliness.

"And let me guess: if it's a boy, you want to name him Bamm-Bamm."

"Naturally."

Edna laughed again and shook her head, and then she said, "You've been watching _The Flintstones_ way too much."

"I bet the girls would like it if we named our daughter Pebbles," he kidded.

"I wonder how they'll feel about having a baby in the house. I never will forget that time that Alison came to Eastland for a visit and she brought her baby Emily with her."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I remember you telling me about that. She took off and left her baby with you and the girls for the night, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. When she left Emily with us, the girls weren't exactly helpful at first. They were perfectly content with the idea of spending a few minutes playing with Emily and then just going about their lives while leaving most of the work and responsibility in my hands."

"Something tells me that that attitude didn't last very long."

"It certainly did not. I let them all know pretty quickly that Emily was _their_ responsibility just as much as she was mine. I've got to hand it to them, though. They may have gotten off to a rough start, but they really stepped up to the plate that night. I was very proud of them. But then again, that was just one night. How are they going to feel about having to listen to our baby cry _every_ night at two in the morning? How are they going to feel about not being able to get a wink of sleep for about the next two years?"

"I think maybe you're underestimating the girls a bit. Those girls love you, Edna. They really do. And besides, after all you've done for them over the years, it's only fair that they be supportive and give back a little, and they know that. I don't think that they'll see our baby as an unwanted inconvenience. They'll love this baby because it's yours. They'll be happy for us. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Edna agreed with a smile. "But I don't think we should tell the girls about it just yet, or anyone for that matter. Since this is a high-risk pregnancy, I think it's best if we keep it to ourselves until I'm in my second trimester."

"That's fine with me. I won't say a word."

Edna nodded, and a couple of moments later, she wrapped her arms around Howard and gave him a long kiss. When the kiss ended, she looked up at him and told him, "I love you, Howard."

Howard smiled and responded, "I love you, too."

However, even though his face was smiling, inside, he was still very worried. He knew it in the end that Edna was right, and being married to such a strong, courageous woman with such great integrity truly humbled him. He wasn't sure if he was up to the challenge or not, but he _was_ sure that he was going to give this great lady and their baby everything he had.


	3. Spring Baby

**Chapter 3: Spring Baby**

The next few weeks flew by and before Edna knew it, she was officially in her second trimester. It had been quite difficult for her and Howard to keep it from the girls – particularly from Natalie and Tootie, who were _always_ snooping around – but despite their nosiness, they did manage to keep their secret. However, all the girls knew that something was definitely going on with Edna and Howard that they weren't telling them about.

In the second week of November, which was Edna's fourteenth week of pregnancy, their secret finally came out. Edna was beginning to get a little thicker around the middle and she'd started wearing larger dress sizes, and while the girls had indeed noticed that she'd put on some weight, obviously, out of courtesy, they never said a word about it. Edna's mood swings and bouts with nausea hadn't gone unnoticed, either, but understandably, the girls never dreamed it was possible that Mrs. Garrett was expecting. But that all changed when one morning, Tootie made a surprising discovery.

All through her pregnancy so far, Edna had kept her prenatal vitamins with her in her purse, and on that Monday morning right after the girls left for their classes, she got herself a glass of water, took the bottle of pills out of her purse, and set it down on the counter by the cash register next to the water. Just as she was about to take a vitamin pill, though, the telephone in the living room rang, and she left to answer it. A few seconds after she went into the living room, Tootie came back into the shop looking for the notebook she'd left behind on one of the tables. She instantly spotted it and picked it up, but just as she was about to leave, she turned around and saw the bottle of pills on the counter. As always, her curiosity got the best of her and she picked it up and looked at it, and as soon as she saw that it was a bottle of prenatal vitamins, her dark eyes grew as wide as saucers.

Tootie instantly told Natalie about it in class, but while it did stir up her curiosity, she was a little more levelheaded than Tootie was. Tootie never believed for a minute that her best friend would be crazy enough to fool around and get pregnant while still in high school, but when it came to the older girls, she didn't know what to think.

As they came down the sidewalk together on their way home, Natalie said, "Tootie, I really think you're getting a little carried away, here. Nobody's pregnant, and certainly not Blair or Jo. They don't do those kinds of things. You know that."

"They didn't do those kinds of things when they were just kids at Eastland, but they're in college now. They're not kids anymore. They're adults, and they're doing more adult things. And the last time I checked, sex was an adult thing."

"Maybe they are doing more adult things now, but they're not doing _that._ Jo's too old-fashioned, and to be perfectly honest, so is Blair deep down. I'm pretty sure that both of them are going to wait until they get married first."

"Please, Natalie. Blair Warner dates anything in pants."

"True. She does like to play the field a lot, but she has her limits. She will only go so far with a boy and then that's it. You know that."

"All I know is, there's a bottle of prenatal vitamins in our house which means that _somebody_ in our family is pregnant."

"Tootie, for all you know, a customer could have left those vitamins behind and forgotten them. Maybe Mrs. Garrett discovered the bottle of prenatal vitamins and she's holding onto it just in case the customer comes back for it," Natalie suggested, and then they both stopped walking because they were just a few steps away from the shop and they wanted to continue their conversation in private.

"Mm-hmm," Tootie said skeptically as she folded her arms across her chest. "Then why was there a glass of water sitting on the counter right next to the bottle – at seven-thirty in the morning, an hour and a half before the shop even opens? You're a reporter, Natalie. Think about it. It was too early in the morning for a customer to be there. And even if a customer had been there and she was going to take a prenatal vitamin before eating her food, she'd have the bottle out while she was sitting at one of the tables, and when she got up to leave, she would've left the bottle there. It _wouldn't_ be sitting on the counter next to a glass of water."

"You're right," Natalie said quietly as it began to hit her.

"Common sense says that Blair and Jo are the only two possibilities."

"Well actually, there _is_ one other possibility."

"Who?"

"Mrs. Garrett."

"Mrs. Garrett? Come on, Natalie. You know she must've gone through menopause eons ago."

"Not necessarily. She just turned fifty-two."

"You actually know Mrs. Garrett's age? I've been snooping around forever trying to find that out!"

"Let's just say that when she had her birthday last month, I did a little investigative reporting and uncovered the truth."

"I can't believe you discovered something this juicy and kept it to yourself all this time. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to, but then so many things came up and I got distracted. You know we had that big debate with Bates last week, and I had a lot of work to do for the latest copy of _The Eastlander_ that came out a few days ago. On top of that, I had a bunch of tests to worry about, and then there's my most favorite distraction of all," Natalie said with a big smile.

Tootie returned the smile and said, "Wes."

"One of the biggest stars of the Bates football team _and_ the captain of their debating team. A gorgeous athlete with brains. And he's mine. All mine. I'm still pinching myself."

"Yeah. I feel the same way about Jeff. But anyway, let's get back on topic, here."

"Right. I really don't think it is Mrs. Garrett. I was just pointing it out that it is technically a possibility since we don't know if she's gone through menopause yet or not. However, speaking as a doctor's daughter, the odds of a fifty-two-year-old woman conceiving are about the same as the odds of winning the lottery. While it is possible, it's extremely unlikely, so I think we can go ahead and cross her off the list."

"I agree. It's far more likely that it's either Jo or Blair."

"Yeah, it is. And it is true that they were both running late this morning. They were really in a rush to get to class on time. It makes sense that one of them would take a vitamin and then forget and leave the bottle and the glass of water behind on the counter since they were in such a hurry."

"Can you believe it, Natalie? Either Blair or Jo is _pregnant._ Without a husband. Without finishing college. Without a career."

"I know. I don't think I can handle this."

"I don't think I can either. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

"We have to find out which one it is. I'll just die if we don't."

"So will I. Come on. We have to find them and talk to them _now_."

"You're right," Tootie agreed. "Let's go."

And with that, they darted into Edna's Edibles. There weren't any customers there at the moment, and Jo was sitting alone at one of the tables with a calculator and Blair was standing at the cash register. Edna and Howard were discussing something in the living room, so the girls were alone in the shop, which gave Natalie and Tootie the perfect opportunity to begin their interrogation.

The instant they ran inside, without even pausing for breath, Tootie blurted out, "Alright. I want to know the truth and I want to know it _now._ Which one of you is it?"

"Tootie, what are you talking about?" Blair asked innocently, honestly having no clue what Tootie meant.

"Which one of you is pregnant?" asked Natalie.

Jo looked up from her calculator and paperwork then and said, " _Pregnant?_ "

"I don't know what you girls are talking about," Blair told them truthfully. "Nobody's pregnant."

"If nobody in this house is pregnant, then why did I find a bottle of prenatal vitamins sitting on the counter this morning?" Tootie questioned.

"Somebody in this family has a bun in the oven, and it's not me and it's not Tootie. That means that there's only two possibilities left," said Natalie.

"That's right, and we want to know who it is."

"It's not me, and even if it were me, I wouldn't tell ya 'cause it's none of your business," Jo barked at them, and then she got back to punching numbers on her calculator.

Natalie and Tootie then looked at Blair intently, and she told them, "Well, it's certainly not _moi._ "

"One of you is lying!" Tootie cried out. "Come on, you guys! I want to know the truth!"

"Yeah, and so do I."

" _I am_ telling the truth," said Blair.

Jo then looked up at them again and asked with a threatening gaze, "Are you two callin' me a liar?"

That caused them to back down a little, and Natalie nervously responded, "No, no, of course not, Jo."

"But those prenatal vitamins have to belong to someone," Tootie persisted. "Come on, you guys. Tell us the truth. Who is it?"

" _For the last time_ ," said a very frustrated Jo, "it's not me."

"And for the last time, it isn't me, either," said an equally frustrated Blair, and then that was it. The fight was on in Edna's Edibles, and for the next several minutes, the girls had quite a shouting match, and they really went at each other's throats.

Finally, the verbal battle was interrupted when Edna and Howard came in. As soon as they entered the shop, Edna yelled above the girls' voices, " _Hold it!_ " In that next moment, they stopped shouting and simply stared at Edna and Howard. Edna then asked them, "What is going on in here?"

"Mrs. Garrett, somebody's pregnant," Tootie answered.

"Tootie found a bottle of prenatal vitamins sitting on the counter this morning," Blair explained. "She thinks it belongs to either me or Jo. She thinks one of us is pregnant, and while I can't speak for Jo, _I can_ say for certain that I am not pregnant."

Jo, who was now standing in the middle of the shop with everybody else, retorted, "Well you don't need to speak for Jo because Jo can speak for Jo. I'm not pregnant, either."

Mrs. Garrett knowingly smiled, and then she said, "Girls, I can settle this. You're right, Tootie. Somebody in this house _is_ expecting, but it's not Blair or Jo." She then looked up at Howard and smiled, and Howard smiled in return and put his arm around her, and it was in that instant that they all finally began to catch on. "It's me."

The second she said that, Tootie, Natalie, and Blair all let out a jubilant scream, and Jo wore a smile a mile wide.

"Mrs. Garrett, that's wonderful!" Blair said aloud as she gave Mrs. Garrett a big hug.

"This is the most amazing news ever! I can't believe it!" Tootie cried out, and then she and Natalie gave Mrs. Garrett and Howard big hugs as well.

"I don't know what to say, you guys. This is terrific," said Natalie.

"Congratulations, Mrs. G., Howard," said Jo, and then she gave Edna a warm hug too.

"Thank you, girls. We just found out a few weeks ago."

"How come you didn't say anything?" asked Blair.

"Well as I'm sure you girls already know, a pregnancy for a woman my age is pretty uncommon. It really is a miracle that this happened. And due to my age and my having hypertension, this is a high-risk pregnancy. I wanted to wait until I was in my second trimester before I started telling people the news."

"That makes sense," said Jo.

"How far along are you now?" Tootie inquired.

"Fourteen weeks."

"Is your doctor doing an amniocentesis?" asked Natalie, ever the doctor's daughter.

"Yes, in two weeks. We have an appointment with my gynecologist, Dr. Flowers, on the Monday after next, and she's going to do it then."

"What's an amniocentesis?" asked Tootie.

"It's a procedure where a doctor takes a needle and draws out a small sample of amniotic fluid from the amniotic sac," Edna explained. "Then the fluid is tested for chromosomal abnormalities. Birth defects are far more common in pregnant women who are over forty, and if, God forbid, there's any problems with the baby, we want to know ahead of time so we can be better prepared to take care of it."

"The baby'll be fine, Mrs. Garrett," Tootie told her. "I'm sure of it."

"So, when is our little bundle of joy due?" Blair asked as she patted Edna's stomach, and Edna chuckled.

"The thirteenth of May," Edna replied. "We'll have a spring baby."

"A spring baby," Tootie repeated with a big smile. "I love that!"

"If it's a girl, maybe you can call her Spring," Natalie suggested.

Howard shook his head and joked, "No, if this baby's a girl, we're calling her Pebbles."

Edna smiled and looked up at Howard and said, "You just don't quit, do you?"

"No. And why should I? There's no shame in being a _Flintstones_ fan."

"No, there's not any shame in liking _The Flintstones_ , but still, _I am not_ naming our child Pebbles or Bamm-Bamm," Edna told him, and the girls all laughed.

"If you don't mind my changin' the subject, Mrs. G., how are you dealin' with your blood pressure now? Is it safe for you to take your medication while you're pregnant?" Jo inquired.

"We talked with Dr. Hughes and Dr. Flowers about it and we all agreed that it would be best if I came off my blood pressure medication for the time-being."

"Isn't it dangerous for you to go off your medication?" asked Blair.

"I won't try to pretend that there aren't risks involved with a pregnancy like this. A lot of risks. But my number one priority is to bring a healthy baby into this world, and that's precisely what I'm going to do."

It was in that moment that it truly began to sink in for the girls how serious the situation actually was. While they all wanted to believe that Mrs. Garrett and her baby were going to come through the pregnancy okay, it really hit them then that there may be complications – severe complications – for both of them.

The girls remained silent for several more moments, and then Tootie finally broke the silence, saying, "Guys, I don't believe this. Mrs. Garrett is in the middle of a high-risk pregnancy and we just let her stand here on her feet all this time." She then put her hand on Mrs. Garrett's shoulder and told her, "Come on, Mrs. Garrett. You should come in the living room and sit down; prop your feet up on the coffee table a while."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Mrs. G.," Jo agreed.

"And when was the last time you ate something? We should probably fix you a snack," said Natalie. "After all, you are eating for two."

"And after you've had something to eat, you should probably go upstairs and lie down for a while," Blair added. "It's important for a pregnant woman to get plenty of rest."

Edna laughed and said, "Girls, I appreciate all your concern, but there's no need to coddle me. I'm perfectly alright."

"And we're going to make sure that both of you stay that way," said Tootie as she, too, patted Edna's growing stomach.

"Like I just said, Tootie, I appreciate what you girls are trying to do, but you don't have to treat me as though I'm made of glass. I can handle this. Now let's all stop standing around chitchatting and let's get back to minding the store, shall we?"

"Yes, ma'am," Howard said as he gave a salute, and then after the girls spent the next couple of minutes giving Edna more hugs and congratulations, everybody went back to work.

However, over the next two weeks, Howard and the girls continued to fuss over Edna and despite all her objections, they waited on her hand and foot. Ordinarily, it was always Edna who'd cared for the girls and mothered them, but now the tables had clearly turned and it was Edna who was being cared for for a change. Howard was very proud of the girls for the way they really stepped up to the plate. They firmly made up their minds that they would not do anything to cause her any undue stress, and they stayed true to their word. Even Jo and Blair came to a temporary ceasefire and stopped fighting all the time, which Edna and Howard noticed and appreciated.

When the time came for Edna to have her amniocentesis, Howard was right by her side and the procedure went as expected without any problems or complications. And while both of them were anxious to know the results, they managed to go about their lives as they normally did over the following two weeks. Edna decided in the end that she wanted to find out her baby's gender since she'd had to wait until she'd given birth to find out the gender of her sons in her last two pregnancies. While she and Howard were excited about learning the gender, though, their baby's health was always first and foremost on their minds. They tried not to worry about it too much, but at the same time, they were understandably concerned.

On one Wednesday morning in mid-December, several minutes after the girls left for class, the phone call Edna and Howard had been waiting for finally came. Edna was sitting at the desk in the living room when the phone started to ring, and Howard was standing next to her.

After the second ring, Edna picked up the receiver and said, "Hello?" A couple of moments later, she said, "Dr. Flowers, yes. Hello." A few more seconds passed, and then she asked, "Could you hold on one minute, please?" She then set the receiver down on the desk, and she took Howard's hand in hers and said, "Well Howard, this is it."

"Do you want me to take it, sweetheart?" he asked gently.

Edna shook her hand and replied, "No. Whatever Dr. Flowers has to tell me, I can handle it. You know, ever since we first found out we were expecting, we've been praying that there's nothing wrong with the baby. But if there is something wrong, God forbid, I want us to promise to each other right here and now that we're going to do everything we can to help our child in every way."

Howard looked into her eyes and said, "Of course we will, love. You know that."

"We treasure this child. No matter what."

"No matter what," Howard agreed.

Edna nodded, and then after taking a deep breath and looking up to heaven to say a little prayer, she picked up the receiver again. "I'm back, doctor. What are the results?"

Over the next few seconds, Edna's face lit up with joy, which caused Howard to sigh a sigh of relief. Edna thanked the doctor then and said goodbye and hung up the phone. In the next moment, she got up from her seat.

"Well?" said Howard.

"The baby's alright," Edna informed him, and he threw his arms around her and gave her a big kiss. After their long embrace ended, Edna said, "Dr. Flowers says the baby's perfectly healthy."

Howard looked up then and said, "Thank You, Jesus."

"Amen," Edna said with a huge smile. "According to Dr. Flowers, you and I are having a healthy baby girl."

"A girl," he said in an emotional whisper.

"A girl!" Edna happily cried out, and then she broke out into a fit of laughter, and Howard began laughing with her. It wasn't long before he was kissing and hugging her again.

A few moments later, their little one surprised them and Edna suddenly gasped and held her stomach.

Howard put his hands on top of hers in that moment and asked, "What is it, Edna? Is everything alright?"

Edna caught her breath, let out a happy sigh, and nodded. Then she answered, "Everything's fine, Howard. I just felt our daughter kick for the first time."

"Are you serious?" Howard asked as his face lit up.

"Yes," Edna said with a nod and a smile.

Tears came to their eyes in that moment, and Howard gave her a big, long kiss, threw his arms around her, and hugged her for the longest time.

They spent the rest of that morning like that, laughing, hugging, and crying tears of joy and relief. Even though neither one of them had planned on having a baby at this stage of their lives, and even though they were still concerned about all the risks involved through the rest of the pregnancy, they'd honestly never been happier, and they couldn't wait for their spring baby.


	4. Edna in the Hospital

**Chapter 4: Edna in the Hospital**

Over the next few weeks, Howard and the girls continued fussing over Edna and waiting on her hand and foot, despite her protests. However, it didn't take her long to start enjoying being truly pampered for the first time ever in her life. While Edna still took care of a lot of the cooking, Howard and the girls handled everything else with the shop, which really took a load off her mind. They all did everything they could to make certain her life was as stress-free as possible, and thanks to their efforts, it truly was.

Unfortunately, that all changed one night in late January. Edna was now twenty-six weeks into her pregnancy and her abdomen was considerably rounder. As she sat up in bed with Howard that night, the two of them reading, Howard inadvertently did something that brought tears to her eyes.

As Edna was reading that night, the baby suddenly turned a cartwheel inside her, and Edna put her book down, held her stomach, and let out a big sigh.

Howard then put his book down, looked over at his wife, and asked her, "What is it? Are you alright?"

Edna nodded and replied, "I'm fine, Howard. It seems that our little one isn't quite ready to settle down for the night. She just turned a cartwheel."

"Looks as though Pebbles is going to be quite a gymnast."

Edna laughed and said, "You really should stop calling her Pebbles."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Oh, I don't know," Edna said as she gently rubbed her round stomach. "I've been considering what Natalie said a while back about how we ought to call her Spring since she'll be coming in the springtime. She's due in May, so perhaps we can call her May. Or, given the fact that flowers come into bloom in the spring, maybe we can name her after a flower. Maybe we can call her Lilly or Violet or Daisy or Jasmine, something like that."

"How about Rose?"

Edna shook her head and told him, "I don't think so, dear. We already have a Rose in the family, so that name's taken. Remember, Jo's mother is named Rose."

"Oh, yeah."

"Thankfully, we still have a little time left to decide, although I know she'll be here before we know it."

"Well, you can call her what you like. As for me, I'm always going to call her by her nickname, and that's Pebbles."

Edna laughed again and said, "You never give up, do you?"

"Nope," he said with a smile.

It was then that the baby began a barrage of kicking inside Edna, and Edna again held her stomach and laughed. "Oh, my goodness," she gasped.

"What? Another cartwheel?" asked Howard.

"No, she's not turning cartwheels, but she _is_ getting her exercise!" In that moment, Edna took Howard's hand, put it on her abdomen, and told him, "Here. Feel for yourself."

For the next several moments, Howard felt his daughter kicking up a storm. Finally, he laughed and said, "She's a gymnast, that one. I think our daughter just might end up in the Olympics someday."

"You may be right," Edna said with a chuckle. "Or, she could go on to be a very athletic doctor or judge or chef or homemaker. She can be anything she wants."

"With the exception of a politician or a serial killer – both of which are basically the same thing," Howard teased, and Edna laughed once again.

"You're right about that," she agreed.

"Wait a minute, Edna."

"What is it?"

"I think I've figured it out. I think I know why our baby's putting up such a fuss tonight."

"Why is that?"

"Well think about it. You've got an interesting story to read before you go to sleep. I'm over here reading an interesting story. Pebbles is jealous because nobody's reading a bedtime story to her. She feels left out."

Edna jokingly rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "You are so crazy, Howard."

"I'm being serious," he insisted.

"You're being silly."

"I'll prove it to you. I'll go downstairs and get out one of those children's books we bought for the baby the other day, and I'll read her a story. If she calms down when the story's over, you will have no choice but to admit that I was right."

"You're welcome to give it a try," Edna told him, although she remained skeptical.

Howard leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, and then he said, "Be right back."

He then put his book down on his nightstand, got up out of bed, and left. He came back a couple of minutes later holding a copy of _Sleeping Beauty_ in his hands.

"This ought to be interesting," Edna said as soon as he walked back into their bedroom.

Howard walked around to Edna's side of the bed a couple of moments later and sat down, and then he began to read. And sure enough, it seemed that hearing her father's voice was enough to calm her down and make her go to sleep.

"Well isn't that something?" asked Edna as she laid her hand on her abdomen again.

"Told ya," Howard said with a big grin. He then bent down, kissed his wife's pregnant stomach, and whispered, "Goodnight, Pebbles."

It was in that instant that pregnancy hormones got the best of Edna and she suddenly began crying. Poor Howard was at a loss, having no idea what he'd done wrong.

"I…I…I'm sorry, Edna," he stammered. "If it upsets you that much, I won't ever read _Sleeping Beauty_ to her again. Next time, I'll read her _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ or _Cinderella_ or _The Little Engine That Could_."

Edna shook her head, wiped her eyes, and explained, "That's not it, Howard. That's not it at all. You haven't done anything wrong. It's just that the last two times I was pregnant, I never had anybody to support me like this. I didn't have a loving, faithful, involved husband to go with me for doctor's visits and rub my shoulders and nag at me to rest more often and read bedtime stories to the baby before it was even born. My parents always loved me and gave me their support whenever I needed it as a girl, but the minute I eloped with Robert and moved away with him, I was basically all on my own, despite the fact that I was married. And I'd been all on my own for so many years. All on my own with my boys until they grew up and moved out. Then again with the girls. I always had to be strong one. All the responsibility for everybody else's lives always fell on my shoulders and on my shoulders alone. Now, all of the sudden, I'm not on my own anymore. Now, for the first time, I have someone to go through all of life's ups and downs with me. I have someone to shoulder all the responsibility with me. I have someone to turn to when I don't feel strong enough to handle everything on my own."

Howard responded simply by kissing Edna and taking her into his arms. After a couple of minutes, he whispered in her ear, "You're going to get me started."

Edna smiled through her tears then, and once their long embrace ended, she said, "I'm sorry. It's these stupid pregnancy hormones. They've got my emotions all over the place."

"Now, Edna, you don't have to apologize to me for your emotions. Heck, nobody has more of a right to be emotional than you do. Growing a new life inside you is a big job, and big jobs come with big emotions. It's nothing to be sorry for. And your hormones are not stupid. God put them there for a reason. They're there to help our baby grow big and strong, so she'll be able to live in the outside world in a few months."

"I know that," Edna admitted.

"I love everything about you, Edna. I love your strength. I love your tenderness. I love your generosity. I love your sweetness. I love your smile. I _really_ love your cooking. And, I love your hormones."

Edna had a good laugh at that, and then she told Howard, "You are so goofy."

"It's true!" he insisted as Edna continued to laugh. "They're nice hormones. They're cute hormones."

Edna laughed out loud, and then she put her arms around Howard and gave him a very long kiss. A couple of seconds later, she said, "I love you everything about you too, Howard. So much."

They shared another kiss, and by the time it ended, both of them were ready to turn off the lights and turn in. But just as Howard was about to get up and go over to his side of the bed, Edna suddenly let out a cry of pain and grabbed her abdomen.

"What is it, Edna? What's wrong?" asked a very worried Howard.

"Contraction," Edna gasped.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Howard simply took Edna's hand in his own and held her gaze with his eyes until the contraction finally passed about thirty seconds later.

"Is it over?" he asked then.

Edna nodded and answered, "It's over." Then while fighting off tears, she said, "Oh Howard, I can't believe this is happening. We can't let her come now. It's too early. It's way too early."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm going to bring the car around to the back door, and then I'll help you downstairs and into the car, and we'll haul butt to the hospital. The doctors will know what to do. We're not going to let her come now. I promise."

"We should tell the girls what's going on," said Edna as Howard got up from her bedside and opened the doors to their closet.

While putting on his robe and slippers, he told her, "I'll call home from the E.R. and I'll explain everything to whoever picks up the phone."

Edna then turned to where she was sitting up on the side of the bed, and she asked, "Howard, will you help me with my slippers, please?"

"Of course. Do you want your robe, too?" he inquired, and Edna responded with a nod.

A couple of minutes later, as Howard was helping Edna down the stairs, Tootie heard their voices and the noise and stuck her head out the bedroom door. Howard quickly told her what was going on, and then he helped Edna out into the car and practically flew to the hospital at the speed of light. The girls, all of whom had immediately jumped into Blair's Porsche, were not far behind.

To say the least, it was a very worrisome night for everyone, Edna most of all. Edna had a few more contractions, but mercifully, the E.R. doctor on call that night was able to stop them. The doctor explained that there was a higher risk of preterm labor happening in women over forty, but he assured Edna and Howard that they were going to do everything they could to make sure their baby didn't come prematurely. After the girls stayed with Edna and Howard until the wee hours of the morning, Edna admonished them to go home and try to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before class. They were naturally reluctant to leave, but when Howard insisted as well and told them that he'd like to be alone with Edna for a while, they were basically left with no choice but to go back home.

The doctor soon decided Edna would be better off at one of the larger hospitals in Manhattan where she and her baby would be in the hands of doctors who specialized in high-risk pregnancies, and later on that morning, she was transferred to the new hospital via ambulance. As would be expected, Howard followed behind in their car. Very soon after she arrived, a new gynecologist there, Dr. Bianca Hill, who specifically treated pregnant women thirty-five and older, met with Edna and Howard. While she remained as optimistic as possible, though, she didn't sugarcoat things for them either. She was very upfront with them about the risks.

And although Edna didn't like it when Dr. Hill told her that the best thing was for her to remain in the hospital on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy, she didn't try to argue. She certainly wasn't thrilled with the prospect of being bedridden for so long, but she knew it really was what was best, both for her baby and for her. Given her age and her history of hypertension, she was actually somewhat relieved that from now until the day of her delivery, she was going to be under the constant care and supervision of a team of medical professionals. And while Howard would obviously miss his wife a great deal, he too agreed that it was for the best, as did the girls.

Over the next eight weeks, Edna was able to get some much-needed rest and relaxation, despite all her worries about the pregnancy and preterm labor. Thankfully, she never had another contraction in that time, and even though she'd had to come off her medication for hypertension, her blood pressure did amazingly well. Most likely, that was because she was now free from the stress of running a business and caring for four teenagers, not to mention the fact that the hospital now had her on the strictest low-sodium diet in human history! Edna usually did eat well in the past, but she'd always been weak when it came to salt. Now, there was no way she could get away with putting any salt on her food whatsoever, and again, she wasn't thrilled about it, but she didn't complain because she knew it was necessary. And it was the same story for the girls and Howard. They all missed her tremendously, but none of them griped or complained about the current situation because they understood how important it was for Edna to be away and focus on herself and the baby now.

One Saturday at the end of her thirty-third week of pregnancy, Howard and the girls went to visit Edna as they always did on the weekends. Howard often made the drive in the evenings to visit her during the week, but the girls weren't able to since they had homework and a bunch of other extracurricular activities to deal with, which Edna understood. And the fact of the matter was that while she loved the girls with all her heart and soul, she truly was grateful for the alone-time with her husband. However, she really did look forward to the weekends when she got to spend some time with the entire family, and today was no exception.

Everyone arrived in her hospital room at mid-morning, and they talked and laughed for the next several hours. Blair remained uncharacteristically quiet and Edna could easily see it that Blair had a lot on her mind, but even so, she did seem to enjoy being there as much as the others did. But Edna was still concerned, and when everybody got ready to leave at four that afternoon, she asked Blair to stay behind for a few minutes so she could have a word with her.

As soon as they had the room to themselves, Blair sat down in an uncomfortable chair beside Edna's bed and asked, "What is it, Mrs. Garrett?"

"I want to know what's going on."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean. Blair, I've known you for over four years. I think that's enough time to get to know a person pretty well."

"You do know me pretty well, Mrs. Garrett," Blair agreed.

"That I do. And I can tell when something's bothering you. Out with it. What's the matter?"

"Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. And besides, I think you have enough concerns of your own," Blair said as she reached over and patted Edna's now very round stomach, "without worrying about mine." After taking her hand away, she continued, "And anyway, I'm in college now. I am officially an adult. It's about time I learned to handle my own problems without running to you for advice every other second."

It was true that as the daughter of two millionaires, Blair Warner really was your typical spoiled, snobby princess. However, underneath it all, she truly did care about Mrs. Garrett and the girls and she did know how to be kind, mature, and thoughtful when the occasion called for it.

Edna knowingly smiled at her arguments and said, "It is true that as you mature into adulthood, you're naturally going to become more independent and learn how to navigate the rough seas of life on your own. But you haven't been at the helm very long. You've been an adult all of two minutes. It's understandable that at this stage of your life, you may still encounter a problem or two that you can't handle all by yourself."

"I guess, but still, I don't want you worrying about it. You should just focus on yourself and your baby right now. This can wait."

"Yes, but if you walk out of this room without telling me what's bothering you, I'm still going to worry about you anyway, so you may as well just go on and tell me about it."

Blair laughed softly then, realizing that there was no way she was going to win this argument. "You're not going to quit, are you?" she teased.

"Nope. You ought to know that by now."

"Alright. You win," Blair said with a smile. "Here goes. Every night since you told us you were pregnant, Jo has waited until she thought all the rest of us were asleep in our room and then she's gotten on her knees beside her bed and prayed for you and the baby. I've heard her prayers every night for months. I suspect Natalie and Tootie have, too. We just know better than to say anything. We know Jo probably wants to keep it private."

"That's very sweet and thoughtful of Jo. I really appreciate that."

"Yeah," Blair said quietly.

"But why do Jo's prayers seem to bother you so much?"

After a long pause, Blair finally answered, "I don't know. This whole idea of having faith in some invisible entity…I just find it really disturbing for a number of reasons. God, or the idea of God, can have some terrible consequences for people and their families. When I was a little girl, my mother married this man named Allan, and he had a daughter named Meg. Meg and I adored each other. Maybe we were only related by marriage for a little while, but she was always the closest thing to a sibling I ever had. She wrote to me a few months ago and told me that she had made up her mind that she wanted to become a nun. Both of her parents were furious, and that was an understatement. Her decision really seemed to tear their family apart. She had hoped to work as a teacher in a Catholic school after getting her degree and taking her vows, but because her parents were so livid about her desire to be a nun, she eventually decided that their reaction was God's way of telling her that He didn't want her to join the convent. She's still working on her teaching degree, but she doesn't have any plans to become a nun anymore. Her crazy love and devotion to this invisible, mythical being almost destroyed her relationships with her parents. It nearly ruined her entire family.

"And having faith in what you would call 'God' certainly did its fair share of damage to me, too. When I was a little kid, I always did what my parents and my nannies said. Every night before I went to bed, I washed my face, I brushed my teeth, and I said my prayers. I was so naïve back then that I actually believed He was listening to me; that He cared; that He was watching over my family and me. But then I got a cold, harsh wake-up call. I believed. I stayed up and I prayed to God all night long. I _begged_ Him. But all the begging and pleading and tears in the world meant nothing to Him. He didn't care. The very next day, June 14, 1973, my parents' divorce became final.

"You know, in a lot of ways, I actually envy Jo and Meg. They're both so intelligent, yet when it comes to this issue, they allow themselves to be so gullible. I wish I could lie to myself and allow myself to be as gullible as they are when it comes to Christ. I'd love very much to be able to believe that there is this invisible deity out there called Christ who created the world and humanity; who has all this power and cares about what happens to us and even died on a cross to save us from hell. Part of me even wishes that I could pray for you and your baby the way Jo does every night when she thinks the rest of us are sleeping. But I can't because I know better. I know the truth. God, if He even exists, is not moved by our tears and our pain and our suffering. He's perfectly content to let our prayers go in one ear and out the other. Trusting God to heal my broken family was a huge mistake, and it's not a mistake that I'm going to make again. I'm not going to trust Him with you and your baby, and quite frankly, Jo shouldn't either. If we do, He'll just let us down."

Edna then took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. At last, she responded, "I know, sweetheart. I know you've been in a lot of pain your whole life. But God is not responsible for your parents' divorce or for all the pain Meg went through with her parents. Those things happened as a result of the choices of people, not God. The good Lord gave humanity free will, Blair. Right from the very beginning, the first man and the first woman had the ability to decide for themselves whether or not to obey God. God could have forced His will on them; He could have forced them to do the right thing and to obey Him, but had He done so, it would have been a kind of rape. When the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit first created humanity, They never wanted a bunch of mindless robots who couldn't think for themselves. They wanted people in this world who could make up their own minds, which is why They gave us the gift of free will. Had God intervened and prevented your parents from getting a divorce, He would have been taking away their free will. God doesn't like it any better than we do when people make choices that hurt other people, as your parents' divorce hurt you, but He's not going to try to ram His desires down anyone's throat."

Blair remained silent for the next minute or so, and then finally, she admitted, "I never thought of it that way. You may have a point, Mrs. Garrett."

"It's always been my experience, Blair, that Jesus often takes even the things that hurt us the most and turns them around into something positive. Even though your parents' divorce caused you so much pain, in the long run, it actually gave you a kind of empathy you never would have had otherwise. When you were still at Eastland and any of the students were having problems at home, they would always seek you out. They would always turn to you. And because you understood firsthand what they were going through, you were able to help them. And as for Meg, there's no doubt that her parents could have chosen to handle the situation far better than they did. Their angry reaction to Meg's desire to join the convent was their fault and their fault alone, not God's. However, I think that maybe Meg's right. I tend to believe that in many cases, things really do happen the way they're meant to happen, and it may very well be that the good Lord has something else in store for her. I really do believe that things happen in life for a reason. And I guess I tend to think that way because I've seen it play out for myself in my own life. Back in the day, when I was a young wife and mother in a struggling marriage, I was absolutely miserable. I used to cry out to God in prayer, begging Him over and over and over again to do something to change Robert; to make him into the kind of husband and father the boys and I needed. Now, I see that if God _had_ answered that prayer; if He _had_ given me what I was crying and begging for at the time, I would have missed out on so much. Most likely, I'd still be a housewife today, living with Robert in our little apartment in Manhattan. I probably never would have gone on to become a registered nurse. I probably never would have done all the different jobs I did throughout my life or gone to all the interesting places I've traveled to. Lord knows I probably would never have gone to work at Eastland and gotten to know you girls. And if things had worked out with Robert, I never would have had Howard in my life, and I wouldn't have this dear little one on the way," Edna said as she smiled and patted her stomach.

"I guess you really do have a point, Mrs. Garrett. Maybe things really do happen in life for a reason."

"I believe they do."

"Don't ever tell Jo I said this, but I know that even if I do try the whole faith thing again, I'll never be as good at it as she is. I never will forget one time a couple of years ago when I accidentally overheard Jo talking on the payphone to her Aunt Evelyn. Apparently, she was giving Jo a hard time because she hadn't gone to confession in so long. I never will forget what Jo said to her. After she talked to her about a lot of the problems she had with Catholicism theologically, she explained that she didn't go to confession anymore because doing penance made her feel like she was trying to earn her salvation through her own works, and that that flies right in the face of what true Christianity is all about. She said that true Christianity isn't about works; it's about relationship. More specifically, it's about having a real relationship with Christ. She even admitted to her aunt that there was one time in her life when she'd actually considered becoming a nun, but she eventually realized that God wanted something else from her, and that He didn't expect grand gestures like joining a convent as proof that she loved Him. I realized it then that Jo would do anything for God. I'm not sure I can imagine a faith like that."

"That's very true. That kind of faith doesn't happen on its own, and there's nothing we can do to conjure it up. It can only happen if we go to God and ask Him to reveal Himself to us. And as for matters of theology, I very much agree with Jo. If we could actually earn our way into heaven through our own good works; if doing penance were enough to pay the price for all the sins we've committed against God and others, then Christ would never have needed to go to the cross. We can never be good enough to get into heaven on our own, Blair. That's the entire point. We need Christ's help. We need His divine intervention on our behalf. But that cannot happen unless we trust Him and hand our lives over to Him. We're not always going to get what we want when we pray, Blair, but if we trust God, we can _always_ believe that He's going to work everything out for good."

Blair slowly nodded, taking it all in. Then after several long, silent moments, she finally said, "I think I understand what you're saying. And there may come a time when I'm ready to trust Him like that, but that time is not now. Even though I think I understand why He allowed my parents' divorce to go through when I was a kid, that still doesn't change the fact that I've felt betrayed by Him for a long time. You don't get over something like that overnight. And maybe there will come a time before the baby's born when I'll be able to pray for her and for you the way Jo can, but I'm not there yet."

Edna, too, remained silent for the next few moments as she contemplated how to respond. And then suddenly, it came to her, and she said, "Blair, what if I were to tell you that God hears every prayer? It's true. God hears every kind of prayer there is. He hears the prayers we say in our minds. He hears the prayers we speak out loud. He sees the prayers we write and He hears the prayers we sing. And He even hears the silent prayers – the prayers that exist deep down inside us that we _can't_ say yet, even in our own thoughts."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Blair smiled then, fighting off tears for a little while before she finally rose from her seat, bent over, kissed Mrs. Garrett's cheek, and gave her a very long hug. "You're an amazing person, Mrs. Garrett," Blair whispered, and Edna responded by simply reaching up and touching her cheek.

In that moment, Blair reached up, took Mrs. Garrett's hand in her own, and gave it a loving squeeze. Then without a word, she grabbed her purse and left so Mrs. Garrett wouldn't see the tears starting to form in her eyes.


	5. A Private Gift

**Chapter 5: A Private Gift**

The morning after Edna's deep discussion with Blair, Blair returned with the girls and Howard for another weekend visit. Edna and Blair didn't try to talk about their conversation the night before, but Edna did notice that Blair seemed to be a little more at ease with herself than she had been the previous evening. Howard and the girls spent their time with Edna talking, joking, and laughing as they usually did, and having the entire family with her for a while really did lift her spirits.

For the next ten days, everything remained business as usual for Edna. Howard came up for a visit almost every evening during the week, which was always something she really looked forward to, and of course, he and the girls also came for their weekend visits. The monotony of being stuck in bed all the time certainly got on Edna's nerves, but she was a pretty good sport about it and she endured it well, knowing that it was what was best for her baby.

However, things didn't stay business as usual for very long. On the third of April, the day started out nicely enough. It was a rather cold but lovely Tuesday morning in spring, and Edna actually did enjoy a good breakfast, despite the fact that it was hospital food. A couple of minutes after nine, one of the nurses, Ellen, came to take away her breakfast tray. Ellen, a short, slightly heavy, middle-aged black lady with dark brown hair and lovely dark eyes, was a very capable nurse, and her warmth and sense of humor helped make Edna's hospital stay much more bearable.

"How are you two doing this morning?" Ellen asked with a bright smile.

Edna smiled in return, and then she patted her round stomach and answered, "We're alright. Thanks for asking. How are you this morning?"

"Honey, would you believe it? Ray actually took me out to dinner last night at that fancy new French restaurant that just opened up."

"Really?"

"And just when I didn't think there was an ounce of romance left in my cranky old husband's soul," she teased, and Edna laughed. A moment later, she admitted, "I'm just kidding. Ray always likes to act all tough, but underneath, he's just an old, soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bear."

"With my husband, it's the exact opposite. On the outside, he's a teddy bear and a clown and he's always acting silly, but deep down, he also knows how to be strong when the occasion calls for it."

Ellen knowingly laughed and said, "I know. I've met your Howard before. He's an old sweetheart."

"Yes, he is."

"I remember everything you told me about your first husband when we got to talking about our exes a couple of days ago. Being a nurse all these years, I've really learned how to read people. Take it from me, dear. Your Howard's a keeper."

"You'll get no argument from me," Edna told her as she reached over and picked up her tray.

But just as Ellen was about to say goodbye and start walking out of the room, Edna felt a sudden gush of fluid burst out from between her legs.

"Oh, no," Edna gasped.

Ellen turned around then and asked, "What is it, Edna?"

"Oh Ellen, I think my water just broke."

Ellen quickly set the tray back down, rolled the table out of the way, and lifted up the covers. Sure enough, Edna's sheets and gown were soaked with amniotic fluid.

"This can't be happening," Edna said as she fought off tears. "It just can't be. I'm only at thirty-five weeks. I still have five more weeks to go. She's not ready to be born yet."

Ellen patted Edna on the shoulder and said, "It's alright, honey. It's alright. I know it's hard, but try to stay calm. I'll go get Dr. Hill. She's here making her rounds."

"Will you call my husband too, please?" asked Edna.

"Of course," Ellen answered on her way out the door.

A couple of minutes later, Dr. Hill, a tall, slim Latina lady with shining black hair and brown eyes, came into Edna's room with Ellen. After Ellen changed her sheets and blankets and helped her into a new hospital gown, Dr. Hill gave her an examination.

"Well Edna, it looks like your little one has decided she wants to come ahead of schedule," Dr. Hill informed her.

"There's not anything you can do to stop my labor now, is there?" Edna asked, but as a registered nurse herself, she already knew the answer.

"No. I'm sorry, sweetie. Once the water breaks, there's nothing we can do. But it's very good that we were able to make it this far. Your baby will be slightly premature and her lungs will be a little underdeveloped, but we can give her steroid injections to help her lungs mature more quickly. As long as they're given the proper medical care, babies born at thirty-five weeks do very well."

Edna sighed and blinked away her tears, and Ellen smiled down at her and patted her shoulder. "It's going to be alright," she told her kindly, and Edna nodded.

"Did you call my husband?"

"I did. He's closed up the shop and he's on his way."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"Edna, have you been experiencing any discomfort? Any cramps of any kind?" asked Dr. Hill.

"Well, when I first woke up this morning, I did have several sharp pains in my back. I didn't think anything of it, though. My back's always hurting nowadays."

"Sometimes contractions can affect your back more than they do your abdomen," Dr. Hill explained. "You've probably been in labor for a little while now."

"You'd think that after two pregnancies, I'd know what to expect by now."

"Well honey, you and I are about the same age, so you know I'd be the last person to pick on you about not being young anymore," said Ellen, and all the ladies laughed. "But the fact is, it's been a long time since you've given birth. It's understandable that maybe you'd forget a thing or two."

"I suppose so. Just don't ever talk about the whole age thing in front of the girls. They'd never stop teasing me and I'd never hear the end of it," Edna joked, and again they laughed.

"We won't say a word," Dr. Hill assured her.

Unfortunately though, the mood in the room didn't remain that light for too much longer. About a minute later, Edna had another contraction and this time, she actually did feel it not only in her lower back, but all through her abdomen as well. By the time Howard arrived a little over an hour later, it was very easy to see that Edna was in labor as she was clinging to Ellen's hand for dear life and panting her way through the contractions, with Ellen standing by her side and wiping the sweat from her brow. Obviously, it upset Howard seeing his wife in so much pain as it would any husband, but the one thing that worried him the most was the fact that Dr. Hill had put her on oxygen. She now had an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, and being aware of the dangers such a high-risk pregnancy posed to her heart, it did scare him. Thankfully, Ellen quickly explained that Dr. Hill hadn't ordered the oxygen mask because something was going wrong with Edna's heart, but rather, to help her heart with the tremendous workload of labor.

Mercifully for Edna, her labor progressed surprisingly quickly. By eleven o'clock that morning, she was dilated seven centimeters and after Dr. Hill had her moved to the delivery room, she gave her an epidural. By one o'clock in the afternoon, she was fully dilated and effaced and ready to push.

At half past one, following a long hard push, Edna took off her oxygen mask for a moment and groaned, "Oh dear Lord, what was I thinking? I'm too old for this!"

Howard, now wearing green scrubs with a matching green cap and surgical gown, as well as a mask and latex gloves, teased, "Nonsense! You're just getting your second wind!" He was sitting behind her now, holding her up so it would be easier for her to push.

She removed her mask again and fired back, "Oh, shut up, Howard!" Understandably, she was _not_ in the best of moods right now.

"It's true," Howard insisted. "You're still a young lady."

Again, she took off her mask and yelled, "Young lady my butt! My feet are swollen! My back is killing me! All the muscles in my body are screaming at me! And even worse than that, my face is full of wrinkles! I didn't have all these lines on my face the last time I had a baby!"

"Those lines are a sign of intelligence, my dear," Ellen assured her. "It's always been my experience that the more lines you have on your face, the smarter you are. With age comes wisdom."

"That's right," Howard agreed. "You're so much smarter and wiser than all these young whipper-snappers today. Why, this is one very fortunate little baby. Not every baby gets to have a mama with as much wisdom and experience as you. She's really got it made."

After taking in a couple of deep gulps of oxygen, Edna once again took off her mask and said, "Maybe, but I really don't feel ready for this. I thought I could handle it, but now–"

"Of course you can handle it," said Howard. "There's nobody in the world who can handle this better than you can. Just look at everything you've already accomplished. You've traveled the world. You've learned how to run your own business. You've raised two sons by yourself. You've raised four girls by yourself. For somebody like you, this'll be a snap."

"You know he's right, Edna," said Dr. Hill.

It was in that moment that Edna began to truly realize just how imminent her daughter's birth actually was. Her baby wasn't crowning just yet, but she began to feel her head.

Again, she removed her mask and said, "Oh, no. She's coming! She's really, _really_ coming! Oh dear Lord, this is it!"

"It's alright, Edna," Dr. Hill said softly, trying to calm her. "It's alright. There's nothing to be afraid of. Just let her come."

"It's alright, sweetheart," Howard whispered in her ear. "It's okay. Just relax. Just let her come. Let Pebbles come. It's alright."

Edna laughed out loud at that, and again, she took off her mask and said, "You're never going to quit with that, are you?"

"Nope."

Before Edna could say anything else, she again got the overwhelming urge to push. She didn't even need to say anything to Howard. He could already tell by the look on her face that she needed to push again, so he helped lean her forward a little more and let her squeeze his hand to make it a little easier for her.

"Great job, Edna," Dr. Hill told her a few moments later. "Your baby's crowning. I can see her head. You're almost there."

"You hear that, honey?" Howard whispered in her ear again. "She's almost here. It's almost over. You're so close."

"Now with your next contraction, I want you to just give a very gentle push. I don't want you to push too hard, alright? It's very important that we have a slow, controlled delivery. If your baby comes too quickly, you could tear."

Edna nodded. Then after resting for several moments, another contraction began and she tried her best not to push too hard.

"The head is born," Dr. Hill informed them, and Edna could no longer hold back her tears. Howard had been quite right when he'd said that pregnancy was a big job and that big jobs came with big emotions. It had been a long and sometimes scary road, and Edna was simply overwhelmed with fear, exhaustion, excitement, and pure joy at the thought of finally seeing her daughter for the very first time.

"You're amazing, Edna," Howard whispered in her ear. "Do you hear me? You are _amazing._ "

Before Edna could respond, she felt another contraction, and she gave one last push.

"You did it, Edna!" Dr. Hill announced. "She's here!"

A couple of moments later, the baby girl let out a loud cry, and Edna and Howard cried with her. Dr. Hill cut the cord then and performed a quick examination, and after Ellen cleaned her up and wrapped her in a pink blanket a few moments later, the baby was placed in her mother's arms for the first time. For the next several minutes, Edna and Howard were utterly speechless as they gazed down into their little girl's face. She mostly had her father's features, but it was easily noticeable that she had her mother's lovely blue eyes and brunette hair. (Edna had always dyed her hair red, but she was naturally a brunette.) Edna held her close and kissed her and loved on her, as did Howard, until it was time for her to be put in an incubator and taken to the nursery so that Dr. Hill and the nurses could begin monitoring her and assisting her slightly underdeveloped lungs. Once the baby was gone, Edna and Howard just clung to each other and cried. No words were spoken between them. No words _needed_ to be said. They'd both gone through so much together during the pregnancy, and now that they had finally come to the end of it and had seen their baby, there really were no words for the flood of emotions they were feeling. It really was something no one else on earth but the two of them could truly understand.

Thankfully, the baby's lungs matured quickly with the help of the steroid injections, and a week later, they were functioning normally without any assistance. Even though she had come into the world a little bit early and was rather small, weighing in at five pounds, ten ounces on the day of her birth, she was in excellent shape. She was as healthy and happy as any other newborn.

When the baby was exactly one week old, her parents finally broke down and decided on a name for her – a name _other_ than Pebbles, that is.

"We can't wait forever to fill out her birth certificate, you know," said Howard as Edna was lying in bed back in her private hospital room, cradling their little one in her arms. "I did my part. I came up with her nickname," he teased, and Edna laughed. "Now you have to come up with her name-name."

"I would feel pretty silly putting the name 'Pebbles' down on her birth certificate," Edna joked. "It has been hard for me to make up my mind. There are so many pretty names for a little girl born in the spring. But if I must choose, I think I'll go with…April. She was born in April, after all, and I think that's an appropriate name for a spring baby."

"April Caden," said Howard, trying the name on for size. "I think I like that."

"April Ann Caden. Her middle name has to be Ann. It's a tradition in my family. My grandmother on my mother's side – her middle name was Ann. My mother's middle name was Ann. My sister's name is Beverly Ann and my name is Edna Ann. Beverly Ann and her husband Frank never had children, and of course, I never had a daughter until now. And now that I finally do have a little girl of my own, I have to continue the tradition."

Howard smiled and said, "Whatever you say. I think the name fits well on her. I really like it." He then reached over and stroked his daughter's forehead, and he said, "Hello there, Miss April Ann." Baby April responded with a big smile.

"I think she likes it, too," said Edna, and Howard happily laughed.

Two weeks after Baby April received the gift of a name, she received other gifts as well – first and foremost, the gift of being able to finally leave the hospital with her mother and go home. Dr. Hill had kept Edna and April in the hospital for three weeks after April was born just to be extra cautious given that April was slightly premature, not to mention the fact that an older woman like Edna had had to endure the medical trauma of birth. She'd kept them in the hospital for a good while after the birth just in case complications should happen to occur for either of them and they needed medical attention. Thankfully, little April grew and developed normally, just like any other healthy newborn, and Edna began recovering well from her ordeal, although it would be at least another three weeks before she made a complete recovery.

And the instant Edna came through the door carrying April, they were treated to a surprise baby shower from the girls and all her other friends in town. Even though it was a "girl thing," Howard stayed for the shower as well, and even he had a pretty good time with everybody else that afternoon. They were both really touched at all the cards and gifts they received for April, and they certainly didn't mind the ice cream and cake and punch and other refreshments, either. April received all kinds of different gifts from everyone. She received blankets, toys, diapers, baby clothes, and so on. However, there was one gift that really stood out above all the rest and touched Edna the most.

It was a quarter 'til six that evening, not long after all the guests had left and everything from the little party in the living room had been cleaned up, and things were finally beginning to calm down somewhat. Howard was in the kitchen making supper for everyone, and while Natalie and Tootie were upstairs in the girls' room gabbing as they usually did, Jo was sitting at the desk in the living room, working on the shop's books. Edna had had to go upstairs to use the restroom, and she'd left April in Natalie's and Tootie's care for the time-being. When she was done in the bathroom, she went across the hall to the girls' room to get her daughter, only to find that she wasn't there.

"Blair took her, Mrs. Garrett," Tootie explained. Both she and Natalie were sitting together on her bed.

"I think she's downstairs in the shop with her now," said Natalie.

"Thanks, girls," Edna said with a smile, and then she went down to the shop.

Little April was sitting up in her baby carrier on top of one of the tables, and Blair was tickling her stomach, making her laugh out loud.

"You have a tickly tummy, don't you, sweetheart?" Blair said to April in baby talk, which really made her smile. "You're such a sweet, happy little baby. It's going to be so much fun to take you to Bloomingdale's for the very first time!" she said aloud, again in baby talk, which made April laugh and smile once more.

"Anyway, April," Blair then said in a normal voice, "I brought you in here because I need to have a private discussion with you for a second. I know you've already gotten plenty of other gifts today, but there's one last thing that I want to give you." In that moment, Blair reached down and picked up her purse off the floor and opened it, and she took out a black velvet box and set it down on the table beside the baby carrier. A couple of seconds later, she opened it and took out a gold cross necklace with a matching gold chain. "You see this cross, April? It belonged to my grandmother. I think she was always hoping that I would wear it someday. I never did wear it, though, because I was mad at Jesus for a long time. Now that we've finally gotten things worked out between us, I got to thinking that maybe I'd finally start wearing it, but then it dawned on me that it would probably make the Lord a lot happier if I gave it to you instead. But you have to remember that this is private. This is just between God and the two of us, okay? You can't tell a soul."

She then carefully fastened the gold chain around April's neck, while unbeknownst to her, Edna watched in the background, fighting off tears. The thought of Blair giving such a meaningful gift to her daughter really did move her to tears, but even more than that, she was crying tears of joy and relief to know that she had finally worked things out with the Lord.

Later on that night, after they laid April down in her crib, Edna and Howard were sitting up in bed talking about it.

"I just didn't know what to do, Howard. It was obviously a very private moment. I just couldn't go in there and talk to Blair about it. But I _have_ to talk to Blair about it. We can't accept a gift like that. That cross necklace has been in her family for years. It's a family heirloom."

"I understand where you're coming from, sweetheart. If Blair were a couple of years younger, I'd absolutely say that we should give it back to her. But Blair's not a child anymore. She's in college. She's all grown-up now. And I think that she's old enough to make these decisions for herself."

"I disagree. Yes, she is grown now, but she still has a lot of growing left to do, even though she is eighteen. Every eighteen-year-old still has to do some growing before they're completely mature."

"Well, you were married with your first child on the way when you were eighteen," Howard noted.

"Yes, and we all know how well that turned out. I wasn't ready for marriage or motherhood then, even though I think I did do a pretty good job with Raymond and Alex. But still, back when I was eighteen, I had an awful a lot to learn about this world. Blair may be eighteen. She may be an adult by society's standards, but she'll always be my…" Edna said, allowing the sentence to trail.

"She'll always be your what, Edna?"

Edna remained silent for the next several moments before she finally responded, "I was going to say that she'd always be my little girl. I…I forgot for a second that she and the girls aren't my daughters; that they belong to their parents and not to me."

"Edna, over these past few years, nobody has poured more time, effort, and energy into taking care of those girls than you have, and that includes their own parents. Being a mother or a father isn't just about conception and giving birth; it's about true parenting. And true parenting is _not_ shipping your child hundreds of miles away to some boarding school to let somebody else raise your child for you. It's being there to sew on buttons and dry tears and listen when there's a problem. It's doing the actual _work_ of _raising_ your child, like you've always done for the girls. That's what's so wonderful about you. You're not just some annoying, preachy Bible-thumper who says one thing and does another. There's a whole lot of people out there calling themselves Christians who preach about being pro-life and worry about babies in the womb, yet forget all about them the minute they leave the womb, but not you. You were right not to end April's life when you were pregnant with her, but you didn't just stand up for her rights before she was born. You also saw four teenage girls a few years ago whose parents were never very interested in being a part of their lives, and you took them in under your roof and gave them the family and the stability they needed. You take care of kids who are outside the womb as well as those who haven't been born yet. Those girls may have sperm and egg donors, but _you_ are the only actual _parent_ they've ever had. _You_ are the _only_ one who's ever lifted a finger to actually _raise_ them, so you have every right to say what you were going to say. Blair may be an adult by society's standards, but to you, she'll always be your little girl. All the girls will be, just as your boys are. It's just the truth."

"I've always tried to be respectful of the girls' relationships with their parents. I've always felt that there are some boundaries that should never be crossed. But I think you're right. In a manner of speaking, they'll all be my little girls for the rest of our lives, no matter how old they get. And that's precisely why I'm giving the necklace back to Blair first thing in the morning, because I know that if she were my flesh-and-blood daughter, I would want her to pass it down to her own child someday. I may not have given birth to her, but still, I couldn't love her or any of the girls any more than if I had carried them and brought them into the world myself. And as her second mother, I firmly believe that in the future, that necklace should go to _her_ little one, not mine."

"I don't know, though. I mean, think about it. In a lot of ways, those girls really are your daughters just as much as April is. April's like a little baby sister to the girls. They all adore her, and part of the reason for that is because they love you as much as they do. Blair's no exception. And like I just said a minute ago, Blair's not a child anymore. You're right that she does still have some growing up to do just like any other eighteen-year-old, but I think she is enough of an adult to make this decision if she wants to. I think that Blair has a right to pass that necklace down to her little sister if that's what she wants. Don't you see it, love? Blair's only doing this because she loves you as much as she does. All the girls love you almost as much as I do," Howard told her, and she smiled. "You've always given the girls so much. You've always loved them so much. It's okay to let people love you back, you know."

In that moment, it really hit Edna that her husband was right. Blair's private gift to her daughter moved her beyond words, and while it was indeed a gift that was moving beyond words, she realized that it was okay to allow April to accept it, and that it was okay to allow herself to be loved. While Edna, Howard, and the girls fought from time to time and led very hectic lives with a new business, college life, high school life, and most importantly, a new baby, Edna knew she couldn't possibly have hoped for a more wonderful family than this one. To say that she was fortunate was a great understatement.

After shooting up a quick prayer of thanks to the Almighty for her abundance of blessings, Edna leaned over and gave Howard a big goodnight kiss.

"I love you, Howard," she told him.

"I love you too, Edna. Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight," Edna whispered, and then she reached up and turned off the lights.


End file.
